You want to see Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey. Specifically, you want the Imax 70mm version. It’s the only one that matters. Or so the fans insist.
Here’s the rub. There are only 41 theaters in the entire world that can show it this way. Twenty-five are in the US. The rest are scattered globally. Most of those seats are already gone. You’re looking at weeks of sold-out blocks. The FOMO isn’t just high. It’s suffocating.
Why Imax 70mm Is Different from Regular Imax
Let’s get the terminology straight. Most people walk into a cinema and see “Imax” on the poster. They assume it’s the big, bright, immersive experience. It rarely is.
The Odyssey is the first feature film shot entirely on Imax film cameras. This matters.
Standard film runs vertically. Imax film runs horizontally. That 65mm negative becomes 15 perforations wide. Standard is five. The result? A massive, square-ish 1.43:1 aspect ratio. It’s sharp. It’s deep. It pulls you into the frame in a way digital projection simply cannot match.
But then you have “regular” Imax. This is usually a digital format. 2K. 4K. Laser. Xenon. It’s often cropped to 1.90:1. The screens are smaller. The resolution is lower. It’s a different product wearing the same badge.
James Hyder, who managed a Langley Imax theater back in the ’80s and edited the industry journal LF Examiner, has seen it all. He’s not impressed with the current state of affairs.
“This all started in 2008. Imax introduced digital systems. They wanted to get into mall chains. Mall chains don’t have the walls for giant screens.”
So we got a hybrid. A confusing one. You don’t always know what you’re paying for. Is it real Imax? Is it Premium Large Format (PLF) wearing an Imax hat? The movie’s website tries to help. It lists six formats. It explains the differences. But it fails to capture the chaotic reality of how these screens are actually set up.
“It’s a disservice to customers,” Hyder says. “They are trading on a reputation for giant screens that no longer exists everywhere.”
Which Cinemas Show The Odyssey in 70mm Film?
If you’re hunting for the real thing, you’re looking for a needle in a haystack.
Nolan loves film. Oppenheimer sparked a renaissance. Dune: Part Two joined in. Sinners. One Battle After Another. Even Project Hail Mary is doing it. But the infrastructure is ancient.
There is a reason you can’t just find a theater in your hometown. The hardware doesn’t exist.
Rich Gelfond, Imax CEO, told Variety that the company hasn’t built new film projectors in about fifty years. They retrofit them. They rebuild them. They hold on for dear life. Why? Because the specialized parts to build new ones “simply no longer exist.”
Is that true? Hyder thinks Gelfond is exaggerating the scarcity. Imax was building them in the late ’90s and early 2000s. Engineers can machine new parts. But it’s expensive. It’s hard. And frankly, who wants to spend millions on a niche format when digital is “good enough”?
It’s the classic chicken-and-egg problem. No projectors? No films. No films? No reason to install projectors.
How to Identify a Genuine 70mm Imax Screening
So how do you spot the fake ones?
The Odyssey was composed carefully. Nolan and his team made sure the 1.43:1 frame works when cropped. You can watch it at 2.39:1 and still follow the story. It works on Blu-ray. It works on streaming services eventually. It works in standard 35mm theaters.
But watching the digital crop is like seeing a postcard of the Mona Lisa. You know it. You respect it. But you haven’t seen it. The real Mona Lisa has texture. The Imax 70mm print has grain. It has weight.
The digital alternative? 4K laser projection exists on some old giant screens. It’s decent. It’s bright. But it lacks the organic sharpness of film. Hyder speculates that we’d need 8K projection—tiling multiple 4K projectors together like planetariums do—to even come close to the 15/70mm experience.
We aren’t there yet.
Why The Scarcity of 70mm Projectors Matters
Here’s the twist. The scarcity isn’t just a technical limitation. It’s a marketing feature.
“It’s rare,” Hyder says. “That’s why people are so excited.”
If every multiplex had a 70mm projector, would you care? Probably not. The exclusivity drives the demand. The FOMO drives the box office. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Hyder didn’t think Imax film would still be alive in 2024. Let alone 2026. But these machines are tank-like. With proper maintenance, they’ll keep running.
“The last Imax film projector might still be running in 50 years. With prints that are 50 years old.”
The financials don’t justify expanding. The ROI isn’t there for the suits. But the format survives. It lingers. It hangs on by a thread of nostalgia and obsessive fans.
You might wait weeks to get a ticket. You might drive across state lines. You might stand in line. And when those lights go down and the 70mm projector hums to life, you’ll see why they haven’t let it go.
Or you won’t. And you’ll watch the digital crop on your phone anyway.
